False Nine chaos, midfield overloads, and an Arsenal-style 4-4-2 high block that forces constant catch-22 decisions
Football, like life itself, is often cyclical. Things come and go at will, but rarely ever disappear completely. As such, the 4-4-2 out-of-possession shape is the trendy formation for teams to use again, with the likes of Arsenal pioneering a generation with their ever so compact blocks containing two banks of four. However, like back in 2010 when Pep Guardiola’s use of a midfield diamond at Barcelona tore apart the 4-4-2 blueprint, it’s time for managers to find the formation’s weak spot and mercilessly attack all that use it… and I think I’ve cracked it!
Emphasising the Midfield Overload
The formation I selected for this tactic was, as you can probably guess, the 4-3-3 formation – this formation provides us with a numerical advantage in midfield of 3v2. However, the solution teams have come up with to disregard this numerical advantage is by switching their out-of-possession shape to a narrow 4-1-3-2, as showcased below:
This shape provides the opposition team with a base that prevents the ball inside into midfield, with their wingers in optimal positions to initiate closing down the full-backs of the team in-possession.
My idea? Well, it’s centred on giving the opposition as many things to think about as possible. Firstly, I wanted a staggered midfield three that could stretch the opposition’s midfield lines; this could create space for us to penetrate later on in the move. Next, I wanted to increase the chances of our defensive midfielder receiving the ball – after all, he’s the natural difference maker numerically versus a 4-4-2. To do this, I wanted the highest central midfielder to move much higher to essentially ‘pin’ one of the opposition midfielders. This, along with the staggered midfield, exacerbates the issue of our spare midfielder against both the 4-4-2 and the refined 4-1-3-2 formations. An example can be seen below:
As the blue lines suggest, these two facets of our midfield set-up ask significant, pressing questions of the opposition’s two central midfielders; Does the ‘pressing’ midfielder mark our deepest midfielder or the midfielder between the lines? Does the ‘screening’ midfielder jump to mark our midfielder between the lines or does he stay back to marshal the space around him? This configuration also begs the question of the opposition’s right-sided centre-back: Does the centre-back jump to mark our advanced midfielder, or does he stay in-line with his back-line?
To put even more emphasis on the issues our midfield configuration poses the 4-4-2, I wanted our striker to be able to constantly drop deeper – as a false nine, if you will. The potential effect of this can be seen in the diagram below:
Firstly, with our striker dropping deeper, we can emphasise our midfield overload by, now, having four players in a central position against, potentially, just two opposition players. This now begs the question of the opposition centre-backs: Do they step up to neutralise the central overload – whilst, in-turn, creating space for a winger or midfielder to penetrate – or do they stay in-line with their defensive team-mates, leaving the midfield completely overloaded? It’s a terrifying situation for the opposition. A ‘catch-22’, in essence.
The 3-3-4: The Arch-Nemesis of the 4-4-2
Upon progressing further up the pitch, the 4-4-2 out-of-possession shape poses more issues for an attacking side: If compact enough, the two banks of four can overwhelm any opposition shape – even the famous 3-2-5.
However, in 24/25, Luís Enrique stumbled across the shape that would kill the 4-4-2 mid-block, as his PSG team romped to a vaguely unchallenged Champions League trophy: the 3-3-4. The 3-3-4 shape, naturally, gives the attacking team a 3v2 numerical advantage against both the opposition frontline and midfield – as such, the opposition’s ‘wide midfielders’ are forced into moving narrower to tighten the team’s shape, leading to a passing lane opening up out wide. In my 3-3-4, I desired a multitude of flexible, situational aspects that would make my side almost unstoppable in-possession.
Firstly, I wanted the two outside ‘centre-backs’ in the back-three to be able to progress the ball constantly, whether that be through line-breaking passes or marauding carries forward:
Here, as the diagram showcases, Botman is given licence to carry forward [dark blue line]. However, on the other hand, he can also penetrate the opposition’s lines with a progressive pass into either Hall or Joelinton [orange line]. On the other side, Livramento offers us a different threat (due to player instructions): He is given licence to carry inside, rather than outside like Botman – this could trigger a movement wider from Tonali, due to his player role. On the other hand, Livramento is asked to go more direct in his passing; this could lead to him launching a ball over the top of the opposition’s defence for Elanga to chase in-behind [cyan line].
The next aspect that I wanted to press home the effect of is, again, emphasising the natural midfield overload our formation possesses against a typical 4-4-2. Much like in the build-up phase, ‘pinning’ and ‘stretching’ the opposition’s midfield line is at the forefront of my ideas; however, this time, the forwards are given a much larger responsibility at that. In our frontline, I wanted there to be at least two players ‘pinning’ the defence, one player constantly threatening in-behind, and one player providing a ‘dropping’ movement to counter the threatening movements in-behind. By doing this, the opposition’s backline is always tested in one way or another – additionally, this will, situationally, create gaps between the lines, emphasising the 3v2 numerical advantage we possess in midfield. Of course, the opposition’s wide midfielders can move narrower to condense the space as aforementioned, but my system has solutions for that too.
Firstly, the clearest solution is that a passing lane is opened further towards the wingers – in a 1v1, due to our front four naturally matching the opposition’s back four, we gain qualitative superiority as I’m sure our wingers will be able to consistently bypass the opposition full-back:
Additionally, as the diagram showcases [yellow circles], both of the opposition centre-backs are occupied by our front two – this means that, once the ball is with our winger/s, they will be pinned and, therefore, unable to move across to support their full-back. Furthermore, even if the opposition wide midfielder moves across, we will still possess a 3v2 numerical advantage in the wide areas, as showcased below:
My other solution to this issue is through the role of our right-sided central midfielder, Tonali. In his role, he is asked to move wider, and, in theory, this provides us with a nice rotation that could unlock the opposition’s defence:
Here, he moves out wide and is unmarked and ready to receive the ball. Elanga stays wide to ‘pin’ the opposition left-back, however, can equally move inside to occupy the opposition left-back, creating even more room for Tonali to situate within. An example of the issues this creates for the opposition can be seen below:
This one movement from Tonali erects a plethora of potential eventualities for our attack: Firstly, (let’s say Livramento has the ball at this stage) Livramento has three different passing options – one that breaks the lines into Woltemade who, upon receiving, could find Elanga in-behind [blue line] with a cheeky flick, one that gives the ball straight to Tonali, who can then find Elanga running in-behind [cyan line], and one where he goes direct and finds Elanga running in-behind himself [orange lines]. Additionally, this begs the question of the opposition left-sided wide midfielder: Does he move narrower to cut out the passing lane to Woltemade who is dropping off the frontline, or does he move wider to immediately engage in closing down Tonali?
Another catch-22.
Finally, as previously mentioned, I desired a flexible frontline of four that contains at least one player pinning the opposition defence, one player dropping off the opposition defence, and two players threatening in-behind. An example of this, and how my system does this, can be seen below:
Gordon and Elanga are both responsible for ‘pinning’ the opposition full-backs – although, the latter is also responsible for penetrating in-behind as a result of Woltemade’s dropping movements. Joelinton is also responsible for threatening in-behind.
This flexibility, combined with the overloads/numerical advantages, and situational rotations asks so many questions of the opposition’s rearguard that, across 90 minutes, it’s almost impossible to defend against. In fact, in testing with Newcastle United, we failed to score in only 5 games across our 65-game season, whilst scoring 4 or more goals in a game on 20 separate occasions.
Let’s Break Down the Tactic
In Possession:
In build-up, I initially had the ‘Play Through Press’ option selected, however, I noticed that the instruction heavily affected our build-up shape, losing the idea of the staggered midfield. In general, we look to bait the press and distribute short. Once we’ve bypassed build-up, I wanted my team to be positive and direct, looking for the through ball in-behind regularly. In the final third, I wanted my team to remain patient in the final third, without taking too many pot shots. In general, my side predominantly focuses on short, quick passes to manipulate the opposition block, with the team spreading out to encourage the opposition block to disperse. Finally, upon winning back the ball, I want my team to be ruthless in transition.
Out of Possession:
When we don’t have the ball, I want the side to adopt an Arsenal-inspired, aggressive ‘high-block’ – from here, we initially press the opposition high, trying to force the opposition ‘keeper into long balls, before dropping off into a compact, flexible block. From within this block, we look to force the opposition wide and invite crosses into the penalty area. Finally, upon losing possession, I want my team to be proactive in trying to regain possession as quickly as possible.
Opposition Instructions
Player Roles
Ball-Playing Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper:
In goal, I wanted my ‘keeper to be active in the build-up phase, moving higher to offer a passing option. I also wanted my ‘keeper to be active in sweeping any loose balls in-behind our defence, whilst being active in claiming crosses into the penalty area.
Inside Full-Back | Full-Back:
On the right-side, I wanted my right-back to invert to form our back-three in-possession. From here, as previously mentioned, I gave the right-back licence to carry the ball forward – although predominantly inside – along with the licence to move slightly higher, at times, to cross from a deeper position. Finally, I wanted the right-back to be able to feed our right-winger, Elanga, with direct balls in-behind often.
Centre-Back | Centre-Back:
In this position, with the right-sided centre-back naturally moving across into the centre to help form our back-three, I wanted the player in this position to have the autonomy to break the lines and/or go direct, just without the distinct responsibility and tendency to, creating situational flexibility in his role.
Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Centre-Back:
On the left side, I wanted a lot of what the right-sided centre-back would offer, however, with more autonomy and unpredictability, particularly in the tendency to carry forward. Additionally, I wanted the left-sided centre-back to move wider to support our left-winger once the ball was played to him.
Playmaking Wing-Back | Full-Back:
In this position, I wanted Hall, our left-back, to invert into midfield to help form our midfield three – however, from here, he is given licence to make more runs in-behind and reach the byline to pull the ball across the six-yard box, adding another layer to our attacking play. Upon receiving the ball, I wanted Hall to situationally run wide with the ball, with the idea of formulating situational passages of linked play with Gordon, our left-winger.
Defensive Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder:
In this position, I wanted Bruno G. to simply hold his position and be the side’s stationary cogwheel, allowing his teammates to orbit around him.
Wide Central Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder:
In this position, I wanted Tonali to regularly drift wide to disrupt the opposition’s block. From here, he’s given licence to make runs off the ball often, also adding another layer to our attacking play. Upon receiving the ball, Tonali is given licence to either carry forward or find a team-mate with a riskier pass: perhaps sending Anthony Elanga through on goal as the Swede makes a penetrative run in-behind?! When we don’t have the ball, Tonali is asked to drop deeper alongside Bruno G. to form our midfield double-pivot.
Attacking Midfielder | Centre Forward:
Of our midfield three, Joelinton is the most advanced, possessing the responsibility to pin the opposition deep, occupy the left half-space/opposition right-sided centre-back, and making runs in-behind off the shoulder of the last defender. When we don’t have the ball, Joelinton is asked to move ahead to form the front-two in our 4-4-2 high-block.
Inside Forward | Wide Midfielder:
In this system, Elanga’s role is incredibly versatile. Initially, he is asked to hold the width for the team, stretching the opposition’s defence horizontally – from here, he’s tasked with making constant runs in-behind the opposition’s defence to stretch them vertically. Finally, he’s asked to try and reach the byline to supply cut-backs into the penalty area.
Winger | Wide Midfielder:
On the other side, Gordon is to predominantly hold the width for the side, pinning and stretching the opposition’s backline. Upon receiving the ball, he’s got to have the autonomy to take on his man, before either cutting inside and supplying a pass to the underlapping Hall/Joelinton or cutting outside and reaching the byline.
False Nine | Centre Forward:
In this system, Woltemade’s role is essential, as it unlocks a multitude of different, exciting attacking propositions open to our attacking moves. His dropping movements off the opposition’s backline could either help to overload the midfield or create space behind him for one of Elanga or Joelinton to penetrate. Upon receiving the ball, he’s asked to dribble more in tight spaces to attract opposition pressure, before being tricky and clever with riskier, short passes to find the players around him.
Results
Premier League:
We destroyed the Premier League in testing, winning 30 of our 38 league games, whilst only losing once all season, as we finished on 97 points – 16 points clear of 2nd place Liverpool! Across our 38 league games, we scored 105 goals (2.7 goals per game) and conceded just 18 goals (0.47 goals per game), the league’s best record for each; The xG Table suggests this wasn’t a complete fluke either, as we generated the greatest xG For and the fewest xG Against numbers in the league.
Domestic Cups:
We lifted our first piece of silverware for the season in March, as we defeated Nottingham Forest 2-1 in the Final to secure the Carabao Cup trophy at Wembley. On our way to Wembley, we beat the likes of Spurs (5-3 AGG), Everton (2-0), and Liverpool (3-2). We weren’t quite as good in the FA Cup, however – a narrow 2-3 defeat in the Final against Arsenal prevented a treble-winning season… for now.
UEFA Champions League:
It was our season in paradise… until it wasn’t. A treble consisting of the Premier League, Carabao Cup, and UEFA Champions League would’ve been a dream come true for the Geordie faithful, but it wasn’t to be. It was more Final heartache, as an early Real Madrid goal settled Europe’s showcase event with Newcastle the bridesmaid, again. Still, our journey to the Final was fantastic: a 8-2 aggregate victory over Galatasaray in the Semi-Finals followed a convincing 1-5 aggregate victory over Chelsea, and a 4-3 aggregate victory over Liverpool.
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Conclusion
The 4-4-2 is the defensive formation that trumps all others – it’s no wonder why the very successful defensive blocks, like Arsenal, have adopted this very shape. However, Luís Enrique and his PSG side showcased exactly how the 4-4-2 can be defeated, and it’ll certainly be interesting to see how football continues to evolve from here – perhaps, a team’s Manager or a member of their coaching staff have read this article and have gained inspiration…? Although, I highly doubt that’s the case (!). If you want a taste of this beautiful tactic, make sure to download the tactic using the link attached to this article and make sure to follow FM Blog (@fmbIog) and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves! Thanks for reading!
